Vending-machine.



No. 755,648. PATENTBDMAR. 29, 1904 G. W. GATES.

VENDING MACHINE.

, APPLICATION 1 11,31) mm 16, 1903. no MQDEL. 2 snnms-sannw 1.v

N 3x I V v k QAHOP S m: NORRIS PETEflS m. vnora-umo., mswmsrou. n. c.

110.755.648. PATENTED MAR. 29, 1904- G. w. GATES.

VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETSBHEET 2.

' UNITED STATES Patented March 29, 1904.

ATENT FFICE.

VENDING- IVIACHINE.

PE IFIC T N forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,648, dated March 29,1904.

Application filed June 15, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GIDEoN W. Guns, 2. citizen of the United States,residing at David City, in the county of Butler and State of Nebraska,have invented a new and useful Vending-Machine, of which the followingis a specification. F

This invention relates to vending-machines of the type in which thevending is effected by means of a motor which is normally keptstationary by means of a latch and which is set in operation by therelease of the latch by dropping a coin or check into the machine.

The object of the invention is to provide a, convenient machine ofsimple and durable construction and positive and eflicient operation inwhich the susceptibility of the machine to operation by a shock or jaris reduced to a minimum and in which the mechanism for delivering thearticles from the machine is so constructed as to positively prevent there. moval of articles from the machine by means of a bent wire or otherimplement introduced thereinto.

With the objects above stated and others in View, which will appear asthe invention is more fully disclosed, the same consists in the,construction and combination of parts of a vending -machine hereinafterdescribed and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification, in which corresponding parts aredesignated by the same characters of referencethroughout, it beingunderstood that various changes in the form and proportions of theelements and their mode of assemblage and in other minor details may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificingany of its advantages.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a View in Ver tical section on the line 1 1of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a View in vertical section on the line 22 ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig.-1 Fig. a is a yiew in horizontal section on the line 4 1 of Fig. 1. Fig.5 is a detail view in perspective of the trip and the latch controlledthereby.

Referring to the drawings by reference characters, A designates asuitable casing for the Serial No. 161,578. (to model.)

vending mechanism of the machine, 0 indicating the opening leading intothe coin-chute, and D the delivery-opening through which the articlesvended by the machine are delivered by the mechanism presently to bedescribed.

The machine is supported upon a horizontal partition P'within the casingA, and comprises a motor, designated generally as M, a coinchute C, anda receptacle R for the articles to be vended by the machine. At thebottom of the receptacle R is provided a horizontal guideway G, in whichreciprocates a slide 1. The slide 1 is normallyheld inthat portion ofthe guideway Gr which lies at the bottom of the receptacle R, so thatthe articles to be vended by the machine, which are preferably in theform of thin flattablets T, rest upon the slide 1, which is ofapproximately the same width and thickness as one of the tablets T. Atthe rear of the slide 1 is provided a vertically-disposed stud 2, whichextends through a longitudinal slot 3 in an arm 4, which is pivotallymounted upon the frame of the motor The arm thas pivotally connectedtherewith near its free end a link 5, which is also pivotally connectedwith an arrn 6, rigidly secured upon the shaft 7 of the motor. a smallgear 8, in mesh with a larger gear 9 on the main drivingshaft of themotor, and there is also mounted on the shaft 7 a large gear 10, whichmeshes with a small gear 11 upon a shaft 12, bearing a fly 13, whichserves to retard the rotation of the shaft upon which it is mounted, andhence acts as a brake to limit the speed of operation of the motor. Tohold the motor normally stationary, a latch 14, pivotally mounted at oneside of the frame of the motor and having a spring 15, which tends tohold the latch in inoperative position, is held in the path of a fly 16,mounted on a shaft 17, to which motion is imparted from the gear 9through a train of gears 18, 19, 20,

21, and 22, the last-named gear being fixed upon the shaft 17 beneaththe fiy 16. The latch 14 is provided at the lower end with a lug 14:,which is adapted to be engaged by a lug 23 on a trip 21, which iscarried by an arm 25, fixed to the shaft 7, at the lower end thereof.The lug 23 has one side thereof disposed The shaft 7 has fixed thereon--isreleased, the latch 1 1 is swung on its pivot at right angles to theside of the trip, and the other side thereof is disposed at an obliqueangle to the side of the trip for reasons which will hereinafter appear.The trip 24: is supported at the free end thereof in a slot 26 in aguide-plate 27 which is mounted on the under side of the motor-frame,and the lateral movement of the trip in the slot 26 is limited in onedirection by the end of the slot and in the other direction by adownwardly-extending pin 28, which is fixed on the under surface of theguide-plate 27. The trip is normally held in contact with the pin 28 bya spring 29, mounted on the frame of the motor and pressing upon thetrip near the free end thereof, as shown. The free end of the trip 24projects through a slot in the coin-chute C and lies in the path of acoin descending the chute. When the coin passes down the chute, itengages the side of the trip, which projects into the chute and which isformed with an inclined surface 30, as shown, and forces the triplaterally a sufficient distance to disengage the lug 141, at the lowerend of the latch 14, from the lug 23 on the trip-lever. When the lug 14by the spring 15 and the fly 16 is released, so that motion may beimparted thereto through the train of gears 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 fromthe main driving-gear 9. As soon as the fly-wheel 16 is set in motionmovement is also imparted to the shaft 7 through the gear 8, in meshwith the main driving-gear 9, and also to the fly 12 through gears 10and 11. The movement of the shaft 7 causes the arm 6 to revolve,carrying the arm 4: outward, and the arm 1 carries with it the slide 1,which moves outward far enough to permit the descent of the articlescontained in the receptacle R until their further downward movement isstopped by the guideway G. The continued movement of the arm 6 thencarries the arm4= inward, taking with it the slide 1, which travelsalong the guideway G and forces the lowermost tablet T through thedeli-very-openingD. Along with the movement of the arm 5 and theconsequent movement of the slide 1 in the guideway G to deliver anarticle through the opening D there is arevolution of the arm 25 at thelower end of the shaft 7, which causes the trip 24: to travel firstinward, drawing the lug 23 along the side of the lug at the bottom oflatch 14, and then outward until the lug 23 slides across the lug at thebottom of latch 14, and then inward again until the lug 23 contacts withthe lug at the bottom of latch 1 1 and its inward movement is stopped.When the lug 23 engages I with the lug at the lower end of latch 14 atthe end of its second inward movement, the

I latch 14 will be swung on its pivot against the action of spring 15and will be brought into the path of the fly 16, so stopping themovement of the fly, and consequently stopping the train of gears 18,19, 20, 21, and 22 and also stopping the main driving-gear-9, from whichmotion was imparted to the said train of gears, At the end of themovement of the motor the arm iwill be in such position that the slide1, actuated thereby, lies at the bottom of the receptacle R and thearticles in said receptacle will rest upon the slide 1 and lie in aplane above the delivery-opening D. By so arranging the slide 1 andcontrolling its movement so that after the delivery of an article theslide returns to the position under the articles remaining in thereceptacle the possibility of removing any of the articles by means ofan implement inserted through the deliveryopening D is prevented, for nomovement of the slide rearward along the guideway G can be brought aboutuntil the trip 24 is released and the motor is set in operation.

The motor, it will be observed, has its spring under greatest tension atthe time when the delivery of articles from the vending-machine begins,and consequently is then best adapted to overcome the friction resultingfrom the pressure downward upon the slide 1 of the articles T in thereceptacle R. As the motor gradually runs down and the tension of itsspring diminishes, the weight of the articles resting upon the slide 1will diminish correspondingly, so that less power from the motor isnecessary to effect the delivery of articles from the machine.

The coin-chute C is made tortuous,as shown, to prevent the operation ofthe machine by passing a wire down the coin-chute to engage the trip,and the possibility of operating the machine by means of a coin ofimproper denomination is prevented by placing the triplever at the sideof the coinchute, where it will not be engaged by a coin of smaller sizethan that which is intended to be used in operating the machine.

The machine is intended primarily for the delivery of small articles,such as tablets of candy or chewing-gum, and when constructed in sizessuitable for handling such articles pennies will be the coins used inoperating the machine. When so used, the prevention of the operation ofthe machine by means of coins of improper denomination is unnecessary;but as the machine may also be used to deliver other articlessuch, forexample, as cigarsby merely changing the form of the slide and thedeliveryopening it is desirable to construct the machine in such mannerthat the operation thereof by means of coins of improper denominationmay be eifectively prevented.

By placing the trip near the base of the machine, where it is mostsolidly supported and best adapted to resist shocks or jars, and byusing a spring to hold the trip in contact with the pin 28 to limit thelateral movement thereof the possibility of operating the machine byblows and causing it to deliver articles therefrom without theintroduction of a coin into the slot is reduced to a minimum.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention,whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a motor, a latch adapted to engage a member ofsaid motor, a spring adapted to hold said latch out of operativeposition, and a trip operatively connected with said motor and adaptedto engage said latch to draw it into operative position.

2. The combination of a motor,a latch pivotally mounted on the frame ofsaid motor and adapted to engage an element of said motor to stop itsmovement, a spring adapted to hold said latch out of operative position,and a trip connected with said motor and adapted to engage said latch todraw it into operative po- Sition,

3. The combination of a motor, a latch adapted to engage an element ofsaid motor to stop its movement,a spring engaging said latch and adaptedto hold it out of operative position, a trip mounted for lateral andlongitudinal movement and connected with said motor,and a springengaging said trip and holding it normally in position to engage saidlatch and draw it into operative position.

4. The combination of a motor, a latch adapted to engage an element ofsaid motor to stop its movement, a spring engaging said latch andadapted to hold it out of operative position, a trip operativelyconnected with said motor and mounted for lateral and longitudi- .nalmovement, a spring engaging said trip and holding it normally inposltion to engage said latch to draw it into operative position, and astop to limit the lateral movement of said trip under the action of saidspring.

5. The combination of a motor,a latch adapted to engage an element ofsaid motor to stop its movement, a spring engaging said latch andadapted to hold it out of operative posi tion, a trip having on one sidethereof a lug one face of which is inclined so as to slide over saidlatch and another face of which is disposed at rightangles to the sideof the lug to engage said latch, said trip being mounted forlongitudinal and lateral movement, and a spring engaging said trip andholding it normally in position to cause the lug thereon to engage saidlatch and draw it into operative position.

6. The combination of amotor, a latch adapted to engage an elem ent ofsaid motor and stop its movement, a spring engaging said latch andadapted to hold it normally in inoperative position, a trip operativelyconnected with said motor and having a lateral lug adapted to engagesaid latch, a spring engaging said trip and holding it normally inposition for the lug thereon to engage said latch, and a coin-chute soplaced that the trip extends across one side thereof in position to beengaged by a coin passing down the chute and thrown out of engagementwith said latch by the action of the coin;

7 The combination of a motor, a latch adapted to engage an element ofsaid motor to stop its movement, a spring engaging said latch andadapted to hold it normally out of operative position, a coin-chutehaving a notch in one side thereof, a trip operatively connected withsaid motor and provided with an extension having a cam-surface whichlies in the notch of said coin-chute and having a lug for engagementwith said latch to draw it into operative position, and a springengaging said trip to hold it normally in position for the lug thereonto engage said latch.

8. The combination of amotor, alatch to en gage an element of said motorto stop its movement, a spring adapted to hold said latch normally ininoperative position, a revolving arm on said motor, a trip carried bysaid arm, and a spring engaging said trip and holding it normally inposition to engage said latch and draw it into operative position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiiXedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GIDEON W. GATES.

Witnesses:

ELDON-R. LONG, E. J. DWORAK.

